We're All Ears :: September Inspiration

"Geometric shapes hold an energy pattern, and scientists did some experiments which say certain geometric shapes can affect matter around them. It's simply because when a human looks at a shape, they instantly receive energy from their brain."  ~Tom DeLonge

That is exactly what I thought when I watched this mesmerizing performance art from Japanese dance and art troupe ENRA.




ENRA’ is a visual dance performance troupe from Japan performing stunningly unique animation-based digital performances. The images used in the performances are not attuned to the dancers, but interactively staged in a way never imagined before. The members of ENRA are experts in genres including martial arts, gymnastics, ballet, animation, dance, juggling and street dance.

'Torque Starter' is a feast for the mind. Using stunning visual effects combined with the perfectly timed movement of a lone performer who is juggling a lighted ball, 'Torque Starter' is filled with a frenetic energy and a host of geometrical shapes and images. Because the video is completely in black and white, the shapes become the dancers, morphing into one another at every turn and transforming the blank 'canvas' of the screen into a living painting, or almost more like calligraphy, with the absence of any color. 

I have watched this several times and each time I see something different. One time I might try to focus on each element as it moves across the screen. Another time, I might narrow my vision on the dancing orb of light that the juggler is spinning, almost blurring the rest of the images. It becomes almost meditative, except for the hyperactive pace. As I have viewed this multiple times, I have been sketching, and like Tom DeLonge said, the shapes are bringing an energy to my brain. I can see components forming from the geometry that is being imprinted on my brain each time I start the video over. So tell me...

What shapes are you most drawn to?

Without color to rely on this month, the shapes and forms will certainly take precedent in your designs and I am excited to see what you come up with!

Show us your interpretation of this mesmerizing mix of art, graphics, music, shape and light!

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To participate in the We're All Ears creative challenge:

Make earrings inspired by this inspiration.

Write a post on your blog.

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Friday, September 18th.

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We're All Ears :: August Reveal

This was one month where I had the material picked out before I even had the inspiration! I actually went in search of something that would pair up nicely with the material that I had in mind. When I spied the images that I shared of the Antelope Canyon, I knew that I had it right.

Unfortunately, I typically bite off more than I can chew. What I imagined I would do couldn't possibly take more than an hour to complete, right?

Wrong.

So there I was sitting with these fabulous pieces that I picked up at the Bead & Button show.

 These are all Red Creek Jasper earring pairs. I went a little nutty. I actually bought 24 sets in 5 different shapes. All I could do was sit and hold them in my hands. Can you blame me? They are stunning!

They look like they each have a story to tell. And that is exactly what I thought when I found those pictures of the canyon with the undulating sandstone walls bathed in light and looking like some prehistoric temple. I wonder what mystic chants were uttered in those passageways.

"USA Antelope-Canyon" by Lucas Löffler - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

I really wanted to make the focal of each pair of earrings the stone itself. Because natural beauty really needs no further adornment. I had this great idea to make a sort of bail from either sheet metal or wire. I could picture making a balled headpin hinge to hold it all together for a little bit of movement. Unfortunately, by the time I started it was well after 8pm on Thursday and my studio is in a bit of a shambles as I try to reconfigure it (and work in it at the same time) so I would never be able to pull off the bail idea. Still, I did try and was feeling pretty pleased with myself at the cold connections, when I pulled the wire a bit too tightly on the second one and snapped off the top of the stone pendant. Drats. Well, now I have a necklace.

So I tabled that idea (I will revisit that in daylight). And I decided that I just need to treat each shape differently. So I pulled out a little metal and some wire and beads and just dove in.

I love that the red jasper really looks like cave paintings or photographs of a canyon. I could get lost exploring those caves, or gazing at these stone pairs. For each stone tells a unique story that is as old as time and has something important to impart to the one who beholds it.

Your turn!

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Let's see what you created!
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We're All Ears :: January Inspiration

I am not really one to follow trends too much, but I do find it fascinating to watch the Pantone Color of the Year predictions.
Mostly, I think they get it wrong. 

Do you remember last year's Radiant Orchid? The orchid purple-pink showed up on all sorts of things in 2014, and will likely continue its dominance into 2015 (since most of us are much more glacial in changing despite what the color trend 'Influencers' would like), but I am not so sure that it is a color that I could live with long term. It seems something that might be fine in small doses, like on fingernails, not walls. So I never fully embraced the Radiant Orchid color for the year.

When they announced the 2015 Spring Color palette, I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed. Sure, sherbet tones are somewhat expected for the spring, but what I didn't like was how greyed out and muted they were. Even in its truest form, Marsala, the 2015 Pantone Color of the Year, described on their site as

A naturally robust and earthy wine red,
Marsala enriches our minds, bodies and souls

is a lovely color. I confess that it is always my go-to for lipsticks and pedicures. I even have a pair of suede boots in this shade (I must be ahead of the times!). But when paired with all the other tones, it really reads a bit sad to me. 

I want bright tones that slap me in the face and wake me up from my winter slumber! When spring rolls around I am ready to dump the grey and washed out tones of winter. These are a bit ho-hum to me.

Still, there are some gems in here...Like the fresh Lucite Green, the strong Classic Blue, and the quiet Glacier Gray. So maybe I will be able to find something in there that I like.

What colors do YOU like from the 2015 Pantone Spring color forecast?
What will you be wearing - or creating with - in the coming year?

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To participate in the We're All Ears creative challenge:

Make earrings inspired by this inspiration.

Write a post on your blog.

Add your exact blog post URL link to the
InLinkz code right here on 

Friday, January 16th.

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